Two House committees have moved a step closer to achieving legislative reform aimed at Big Tech.
Driving the news: The House Judiciary Committee passed its tech antitrust report, completed after a year-long investigation into the behaviors of platforms like Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple, out of committee late Wednesday.
Google Earth on Thursday unveiled new features for its Timelapse tool that allows users to zoom in on locations to view more than three decades of imagery, including from their mobile device.
Scientists have discovered how to use technology to put an artificial image inside a mouse's brain so that it behaves as if it actually sees it. This will be possible to do with humans in the future — potentially shaping our thoughts and behaviors.
Apple on Thursday announced it's launching a $200 million "Restore Fund" that will "make investments in forestry projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating a financial return for investors."
Why it matters: The move is the latest step by the world's largest tech companies to invest in climate initiatives, including a number of efforts to finance technologies and methods to not only cut emissions, but remove atmospheric CO2.
Walmart, along with others, has made a new investment in self-driving car company Cruise, bringing its most recent funding round to $2.75 billion at a valuation of more than $30 billion. The two had previously announced a delivery pilot program in November.
Why it matters: Walmart's biggest rival, Amazon, has been leading the charge on the autonomous driving front, acquiring Zoox last year, and investing in electric vehicle company Rivian.
The retailer joins an investor group that includes Microsoft, GM, Honda and others. GM acquired Cruise in 2016 in an effort to accelerate the car company’s development of autonomous vehicle technology.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has told hospitals they can't hide their prices from web searches, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The big picture: New federal rules require hospitals to post their pricing information online, but some large systems were using code that prevented that information from appearing in search results.
Three digital media veterans are launching a new paid subscription media company with a multi-million dollar Series A funding round led by 40 North Media, a related investment business of Standard Industries, and private equity giant TPG Growth, Axios has learned.
Driving the news: The co-founders of the new company are Joe Purzycki, co-founder of the podcast company Luminary, Jon Kelly, a former New York Times editor and founder of Vanity Fair’s "The Hive," and longtime digital media executive and early Athletic employee Max Tcheyan.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase opened trading on Wednesday at $381 per share, giving it a fully diluted market value of around $102 billion.
Why it matters: This is a slight premium to the most recent private trades for Coinbase stock, and more than 50% higher than the reference price set last night by the Nasdaq.
In the past year as the pandemic raged on, some of the world's most valuable companies continued to grow and compensate their workers well above national medians — interns included.
Co-Star, the maker of an astrology app, has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by Spark Capital, with Maveron, Female Founders Fund, and all existing investors also participating.
Why it matters: The company says it has more than 20 million app downloads without any real marketing efforts, and has been downloaded by a quarter of all young women ages 18-25 in the U.S.
Coinbase plans to go public on Wednesday, in a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry.
Axios Re:Cap speaks with Coinbase president and COO Emilie Choi about how she thinks about crypto, why Coinbase eschewed a traditional IPO and if we’re ever going to use bitcoin to buy a cup of coffee.
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